How we test website builders: the Same-Site Build Test
Feature lists don’t tell you what it’s like to get a business online. So we built one repeatable test. We build the same 5-page small-business site on every website builder we review hands-on. Then we measure the result the same way every time and publish the scoring math.
Last updated
Test status
Our first Same-Site Build Test, on Wix, is up next. No results are published yet. Each review will show its test date, the plan we used and the screenshots behind it.
The test site: same 5 pages, same content, every builder
We build a small service-business website with these 5 pages:
| Page | What it must include |
|---|---|
| Home | Headline, short intro, 3 service highlights, a photo, a call-to-action button, contact details in the footer |
| About | 2 short paragraphs and a photo |
| Services | 3 services with descriptions and prices |
| Contact | A working contact form (name, email, message) that sends a notification to our test inbox, plus a map or address block if the builder offers one |
| Blog post | One ~600-word post with a heading structure, an image with alt text and a custom page title and description |
Rules that keep it fair:
- Same text and images. Every builder gets the identical copy and the same image files, at the same sizes.
- Template closest to the brief. We pick the builder’s own template that’s closest to a small service business and change it as little as the brief allows. Templates affect speed and looks, so we name the one we used.
- Disclosed test business. The site is clearly marked as a test site on every page. It isn’t a real business and no real customer details are used.
- Same tester workflow. Each test follows a written script. Waiting time (for example, waiting for an email to arrive) is not counted as build time.
Which plan we test
We test the plan a small business would realistically buy: the cheapest plan that removes the builder’s ads and lets you use your own domain. We use free plans and free trials where they give access to that plan’s features. If a trial doesn’t allow a custom domain, we publish on the builder’s free address and note that in the results.
We don’t accept free accounts, special access or payment from builders.
What we measure
- Build time: minutes from first login to all 5 pages published, excluding waiting time.
- Number of steps: one step = opening a new screen, changing one setting, or filling one field. We also log blockers: anything that stopped us, needed a workaround, or asked us to upgrade.
- Mobile result: 8 checks on a real phone and in Chrome’s mobile view (see scoring below).
- Mobile speed: Google PageSpeed Insights (mobile) on the published test site. We run it 3 times and record the median Performance score, plus Largest Contentful Paint and Cumulative Layout Shift. We note the date, URL and template.
- SEO controls: 10 checks for the settings that help a small site get found (see below).
- Business features: the contact form, blog, and whether booking, simple payments and email sign-up forms are available on the tested plan.
- Real cost: what you’d pay over 12 and 24 months, not just the intro price (see How we calculate real cost).
- Plan limits: storage, pages, form submissions, bandwidth, contributors, and anything that forces an upgrade.
- Lock-in and export: what you can take with you if you leave: pages, blog posts, images, form submissions, and your domain.
- Evidence: dated screenshots of each key step and result, stored with the test record.
How every builder is judged
Each review uses the same criteria, in the same order. Pick a criterion to see what we record and how a finished review will report it.
01 · Effort
Build time and steps
Minutes from first login to all 5 pages published, excluding waiting time, and how many steps it took. One step = opening a new screen, changing one setting, or filling one field.
How: Timed against a written test script. Blockers (anything that stopped us, needed a workaround or asked us to upgrade) are logged.
Weight: 20 of 100 points · See how it’s scored
| What a review reports | Wix | Squarespace |
|---|---|---|
| Build time (minutes) | Pending test | Pending test |
| Number of steps | Pending test | Pending test |
| Blockers hit | Pending test | Pending test |
02 · Phone
Mobile result
How the published test site looks and works on a phone.
How: 8 checks on a real phone and in Chrome’s mobile view, backed by dated screenshots.
Weight: 15 of 100 points · See how it’s scored
| What a review reports | Wix | Squarespace |
|---|---|---|
| Mobile checks passed (of 8) | Pending test | Pending test |
| Which checks failed | Pending test | Pending test |
03 · Speed
Mobile speed
Google PageSpeed Insights (mobile) on the published test site.
How: 3 runs. We record the median Performance score, plus Largest Contentful Paint and Cumulative Layout Shift, with the date, URL and template.
Weight: 10 of 100 points · See how it’s scored
| What a review reports | Wix | Squarespace |
|---|---|---|
| Median PageSpeed score (mobile) | Pending test | Pending test |
| Largest Contentful Paint | Pending test | Pending test |
| Cumulative Layout Shift | Pending test | Pending test |
04 · Search
SEO controls
The settings that help a small site get found.
How: 10 checks, from custom page titles and editable URLs to 301 redirects, an automatic XML sitemap and Search Console verification.
Weight: 10 of 100 points · See how it’s scored
| What a review reports | Wix | Squarespace |
|---|---|---|
| SEO checks passed (of 10) | Pending test | Pending test |
| Which checks are missing | Pending test | Pending test |
05 · Money
Real cost
What you’d pay over 12 and 24 months, not just the intro price.
How: The tested plan including its renewal price, plus the domain (year 1 and year 2), one mailbox and any required add-ons. US dollars, before tax, with the date we checked.
Weight: 20 of 100 points · See how it’s scored
| What a review reports | Wix | Squarespace |
|---|---|---|
| 12-month cost | Pending test | Pending test |
| 24-month cost | Pending test | Pending test |
| Average per month (24 months) | Pending test | Pending test |
06 · Exit
Lock-in and export
What you can take with you if you leave.
How: 5 checks: pages, blog posts, images in bulk, form submissions, and transferring your domain out with an authorization code.
Weight: 10 of 100 points · See how it’s scored
| What a review reports | Wix | Squarespace |
|---|---|---|
| Export checks passed (of 5) | Pending test | Pending test |
| What you can’t take with you | Pending test | Pending test |
Cells fill in only from logged tests. Two more criteria, business features (10 points) and plan limits (5 points), complete the score; see the weights table below.
How we calculate real cost
Intro prices are where many surprises start. For each builder, we add up what a small business would pay over 12 months and 24 months:
- The tested plan at the billing term needed to get the advertised price (usually yearly), including the renewal price once any intro discount ends.
- Domain: first-year price (or “free for year 1”) plus the renewal price for year 2. If the builder doesn’t sell domains, we use the renewal price of a mainstream registrar, named on the page.
- Email: one professional mailbox (you@yourbusiness.com), if it isn’t included.
- Required add-ons: any paid app, plugin or upgrade we needed to finish the 5-page test site.
We show prices in US dollars from the vendor’s US pricing page, before sales tax or VAT, with the date we checked them. Payment processing fees are listed separately on store pages because they depend on your sales.
How the score works
Each builder we test gets a score out of 100. It’s built from 8 criteria. Each criterion is scored 1 to 5 against the fixed bands below, then weighted.
Formula: Score = sum of (criterion score ÷ 5 × weight). A builder that scores 5 on everything gets 100.
| Criterion | Weight | Why this weight |
|---|---|---|
| Real cost (24 months) | 20 | Cost after year one is easy to miss when you sign up, and hard to undo later. |
| Ease of build (time + steps) | 20 | We write for people who build the site themselves, once, with limited time. |
| Mobile result | 15 | Many visitors to a small-business site arrive on a phone. |
| SEO controls | 10 | You need the basics to be found, but settings alone don’t make a site rank. |
| Mobile speed (PageSpeed) | 10 | Speed matters for visitors and search, but it depends partly on template and images. |
| Lock-in and export | 10 | Leaving a builder can mean starting again; you should know before you commit. |
| Business features | 10 | Forms, blog and simple booking or payments are what turn visits into customers. |
| Plan limits and upsells | 5 | Limits rarely block a 5-page site but can force an upgrade as you grow. |
| Total | 100 |
Not scored: looks. Design taste is personal, so we show screenshots and let you judge. We don’t score customer support either, unless we contacted it during the test; if we did, we describe what happened.
We always publish the raw numbers next to the score. If you care about cost more than ease, read the cost row, not the total.
Scoring bands (v1)
Each criterion gets 1 to 5 points against these fixed bands. 5 is best.
Real cost (24 months, average per month)
| Measure | Score 5 | Score 4 | Score 3 | Score 2 | Score 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average per month | $15 or less | $15.01–$25 | $25.01–$35 | $35.01–$50 | Over $50 |
Ease of build
Score = average of the time band and the steps band, rounded down; minus 1 if we hit 3 or more blockers, minimum 1.
| Measure | Score 5 | Score 4 | Score 3 | Score 2 | Score 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Build time | ≤ 60 min | 61–90 min | 91–120 min | 121–180 min | Over 180 min |
| Steps | ≤ 150 | 151–200 | 201–275 | 276–350 | Over 350 |
Mobile result
8 checks: navigation menu works; text readable without zooming; no sideways scrolling; buttons easy to tap; images resize correctly; contact form usable; phone number or email tappable; nothing covers the content (banners, pop-ups, sticky bars).
| Measure | Score 5 | Score 4 | Score 3 | Score 2 | Score 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Checks passed | 8 of 8 | 7 | 6 | 4–5 | 0–3 |
SEO controls
10 checks: custom page titles; custom meta descriptions; editable URLs; 301 redirects; automatic XML sitemap; per-page noindex; image alt text; heading levels (H1–H3) under your control; Google Search Console verification; structured data (automatic or editable).
| Measure | Score 5 | Score 4 | Score 3 | Score 2 | Score 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Checks passed | 10 of 10 | 8–9 | 6–7 | 4–5 | 0–3 |
Mobile speed
Median Google PageSpeed Insights mobile Performance score from 3 runs.
| Measure | Score 5 | Score 4 | Score 3 | Score 2 | Score 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median score | 90–100 | 75–89 | 50–74 | 25–49 | 0–24 |
Lock-in and export
5 checks: pages exportable; blog posts exportable (for example, as XML or CSV); images downloadable in bulk; form submissions exportable; domain transferable out with an authorization code.
| Measure | Score 5 | Score 4 | Score 3 | Score 2 | Score 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Checks passed | 5 of 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0–1 |
Business features
5 checks on the tested plan: contact form sends notifications; built-in blog; booking or appointments available; simple payments or a small store available; email sign-up form available.
| Measure | Score 5 | Score 4 | Score 3 | Score 2 | Score 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Checks passed | 5 of 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0–1 |
Plan limits and upsells
We count limits that would force a typical small business to upgrade within 24 months (for example: page cap, storage under 2 GB, form-submission cap, contributor cap of 1, builder branding on the tested plan).
| Measure | Score 5 | Score 4 | Score 3 | Score 2 | Score 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limits found | None | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 or more |
When we haven’t tested something
We can’t build on every product. When we haven’t tested one hands-on, its page says “Not tested yet” and tells you where the information comes from: the vendor’s pricing page, help docs or user reports, with links and dates.
Untested products never get a score. We don’t call them “tested” or describe how they “feel” to use.
Online stores, hosting and domains
The 5-page test covers most small-business sites. Two areas need more:
- Online stores: we’ll add a store extension to the test (a few products, a test-mode checkout, shipping and tax settings, and the fees per sale). We’ll publish that protocol here before we use it.
- Hosting (WordPress): we’ll build the same 5-page site on WordPress with each host, using a free, widely used theme, and measure it the same way. Until those tests exist, hosting pages are labelled “Not tested yet”.
Independence
- Builders don’t see, review or approve our pages before publication.
- Whether a builder has an affiliate program has no effect on whether we test it or how it scores.
- We use our own accounts and the same plans you can buy.
How we make money · Editorial policy
Keeping results current
Builders change their plans and prices often. Every review shows the test date and a “Last updated” date. We re-check prices at least every 90 days and re-run parts of the test when a change affects a result. Old results stay in the record with their dates.
Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
Method changelog
- v1.0: Same-Site Build Test method first published. 8 criteria, weights and bands as above.